Real-time location system (RTLS) provider Awarepoint announced this week a $27 million sixth round of funding. The investment was led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), and also included Top Tier Capital Partners, as well as previous investors Cardinal Partners, Venrock, and Jafco Ventures. Awarepoint plans to use the financing to drive further adoption of its Aware360 Platform.
Kleiner Perkins has invested in a handful of other mobile health companies in recent years including WorkSmart Labs, Corventis, NeuroVigil, ClearPractice, among others.
According to the company, the platform helps "hospital clients reduce hard operating costs, boost top-line revenues, and increase compliance management and patient satisfaction... [It facilitates] asset management and tracking, rental reduction, temperature monitoring, hand hygiene, emergency, and perioperative departmental workflow and throughput, and enterprise patient tracking and workflow automation."
"This past quarter saw Awarepoint book more business than all of last year combined and have the highest volume of new client activations in the company's history," stated Awarepoint CEO and President Jay Deady in a press release. "This round of funding will allow us to continue the major market success achieved during the first half of the year, increase investment in research and development, as well as adding additional client support resources."
This round of funding was not completely unexpected: In June, when Deady was appointed as the company's new CEO, it received a $9 million round of investment from its backers. At the time, Deady predicted that this final round of funding to occur this month.
In the fall of 2009, MobiHealthNews caught up with Awarepoint board member Ed Zander, the former CEO and chairman of Motorola who stepped down early in 2008. Zander discussed his role at the ZigBee-enabled wireless asset tracking company and the broader trends surrounding wireless health at that time.
Read the full press release below.
Awarepoint Corporation, the leading provider of real-time location system (RTLS) solutions for healthcare, announced today that it has secured $27 million in Series F financing. New investor Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) led the round of financing, which also included participation from new investor Top Tier Capital Partners, and existing investors Cardinal Partners, Venrock, and Jafco Ventures. Awarepoint will use the capital to fuel the company's next stage of growth and drive further adoption of its pioneering aware360°Platform.
Awarepoint's aware360°Suiteof RTLS-enabled solutions help hospital clients reduce hard operating costs, boost top-line revenues, and increase compliance management and patient satisfaction. Clients have deployed Awarepoint's patented technology and software platforms in the areas of asset management & tracking, rental reduction, temperature monitoring, hand hygiene, emergency, and perioperative departmental workflow and throughput, and enterprise patient tracking and workflow automation.
"Awarepoint delivers innovative technology and software solutions to healthcare providers enabling them to uniquely address escalating costs and compliance challenges, which is why KPCB is so excited to be an investor in the company," said KPCB partner Dana Mead.
"The current investors are thrilled to welcome KPCB to the investor group and board of directors of Awarepoint. We continue to be excited about the growth prospects of Awarepoint and are pleased with the strong execution of the company this past year," said Brandon Hull, general partner of Cardinal Partners and member of the Awarepoint Board of Directors.
"This past quarter saw Awarepoint book more business than all of last year combined and have the highest volume of new client activations in the company's history. We are incredibly pleased with the continued support of our board and current investor group and excited that KPCB has joined the Awarepoint team," said Jay Deady, president and chief executive officer of Awarepoint. "This round of funding will allow us to continue the major market success achieved during the first half of the year, increase investment in research and development, as well as adding additional client support resources."
About Awarepoint
Awarepoint is the world's leading supplier of real-time location systems (RTLS) that hospitals use to track, monitor, and optimize the utilization and workflow of personnel, patients, and equipment. These proven solutions, on an integrated software and technical platform, with 153 hospital client sites, tracking over 2 million patients each year and over 216,850 asset tags under management, enable clinicians and administrators to improve asset management, operational efficiency, compliance, and patient throughput more easily and cost effectively. For more information, visitwww.awarepoint.com.
About Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
Since its founding in 1972, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers has backed entrepreneurs in more than 500 ventures, including AOL, Amazon.com, Citrix, Compaq, Electronic Arts, Genentech, Genomic Health, Google, Intuit, Juniper Networks, Netscape, Sun, Symantec, Verisign, webMD, and Zynga. KPCB portfolio companies employ more than 250,000 people worldwide. More than 150 of the firm's portfolio companies have gone public, and many other KPCB ventures have achieved success through mergers and acquisitions. KPCB focuses its global investments in three practice areas - digital, greentech, and life sciences - and provides entrepreneurs with company-building expertise out of its offices in Silicon Valley, Beijing, and Shanghai. For additional information, visit www.kpcb.com.
